Garmin - Forerunner 310XT

Ha! This post took me on a trip down memory lane! I had to look at my history in Garmin Connect. Started using my Garmin Forerunner 305 back in 2010. Since then I’ve upgraded 3 times: 310XT in 2012, (loved this watch), 235 in 2019, 165 this year in 2025.

That's what I do and works fine, the screen is a little small on my Forerunner 310XT. But I bought it used years ago for 100$ and got the little handlebar mount thing.

I've had lots of Garmin computers and lots of Garmin watches. The two aren't really compatible. First started out with a Forerunner 310XT many moons ago that I strapped to my bars. Lasted about a week before I got an Edge 200 and I've had a seperate running watch and bike computer since. You really don't want to be looking at your wrist all the time when you are cycling and as I've gotten older and need reading glasses a watch on the bars isn't suitable for me anyway. Also there's a lot more real estate on my Edge 1050 compared to my Fenix 8 so lots more data to be seen and I can see different pages of data with a swipe of my finger as well as a navigation screen. I've also got a Varia radar that makes an audible beep on the computer and gives a graphics indicator of approaching vehicles.

Until very recently I'd been using a Forerunner 310XT that I probably had between 10-15 years! I only stopped using it because the casing broke to the point I couldn't get a wrist strap to attach to it anymore. I couldn't be bothered to try to fix it and didn't fancy holding it in my hand while running, or keeping it in a pocket, so sold it on as good for spare parts. I'd already got myself a Galaxy Watch for daily use so just use that as a running watch too now. I'm not sure it's quite as good as displaying the info I want/need while running but that could just be a user/config issue. It's more than adequate so I'm in no rush to upgrade to another Garmin.

I've never had much issue with battery life on my Garmins - currently a Fenix 6, a couple of Vivoactives before that, and even a 310xt _way_ back. But I also wear my Garmin against my skin, so it tends to get covered with base layers while I'm actually skiing. I just roll back my sleeve if I need to interact with it.

The other thing that is noteworthy for me about Garmin is that I find the customer service incredible. If there is any issue with your watch/power meter, etc, support is great. Once you get through the "reset the device" nonsense, if it still doesn't solve the problem, they just send you a new refurb. Even if it's out of warranty. I had the FR 205 brick on a wrist. The sealing on that was shit and sweat seeped into the watch. Boom, new replacement. 310XT, the plastic on the buttons would wear through and water leaked in when swimming. Yep, new repalcement. Heck, I had a pair of Vector pedals go bad and not only did they send me new ones, they sent me the Vector 2s. They have my lifetime loyalty and goodwill for that, across 20+ device purchases for myself and my family.

eheh I agree with you. If I was looking for "just" a sport watch it would be easier. I started with a FR310XT, then a FR920XT, a Fenix 3. All watches that could do everything I needed and more - for trail running, triathlon, etc. But now I'm looking for a replacement for my Vivoactive 4, something I'd wear everyday and also use while training. I like to play music while running without having the phone, I want to use it in the pool. The VA4 never did a 15h+ trail race, not even capable of openwater recording (I would simply tie it to my swim buoy). So, I get what you're saying. With that in mind, what I'm looking for now is a watch I can wear casually, fits while wearing a shirt (the Fenix 3 HR is huuuuge), but that I could also use for "casual" activities. Swimming in the pool seems simple enough, but I was thrown out by the lack of control with the AW in the pool: with any other watch I press a button to start an interval, press it again to stop it, and repeat for a new interval, and I can see metrics (time, distance) during each interval for just that interval. I was surprised to read the AW seems to not do that.

Ultra and Cadence.app (you have to pay subscription, of course). But in my opinion, Garmin is better option for cycling and I’ve tried both - Garmin needs no subscription, has offline maps and more and better metrics. And somewhat can export to Apple Health too :)

I switched. 1) no need to subscription (I'd have to pay for at least three apps to just remotely mimic what garmin does out of the box - cadence, bevel or athlytic and fitify) 2) ability to connect and use all my gear (I tend to use Engo Eyewear AND Stryd Duo pod together, which is hardly achievable on AW (I never managed to do it). 3) Garmin just works. No fiddling with apps like AW, just select the activity and go. 4) Five buttons! AW tended to behave erratically when sweated with long sleeve. Not Garmin. Or swimming workouts are accurate thanks to those buttons and drill log mode. 5) Battery good enough to withstand long run in winter (AW tended to have problems in 30+ km runs in cold, not Garmin) Forerunner asks me if to go to power saving mode, when there are "just two days left" :) 6) it is iphone independent. I can freely choose whatever phone I like 7) Garmin connect has bad UI, but the data trove is great. 8) ANT+ - lots of gear uses it 9) maps are in the watch offline, no need for data connection, like AW

i second that. wrist HR with F8 is also faulty for me like 30% of the times, could be because of a wrist or a strap. But i did not see any with F8 improvement compared to F6 or older forerunners

I use a Garmin Forerunner watch, and it displays heart rate while tracking activity. The reading is pretty visible to me even with slightly foggy goggles but ymmv. They have a lot of models with this capability, so maybe you can find one with a bigger screen. The default heart rate screen also has a colored Zone indicator, if that's easier to see & you're not looking for exact numbers https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=kbOXNev7NS4DQcc3IjAV49